Syllabus: Internship Seminar in Mexico BUS/ENV/HIS/INS/MKT/POL/REL/SPA/WST/YFM 399

Cross Listings and Credit Options

Students may choose to register for credit in any of the following departments: History (HIS), Interdisciplinary Studies (INS), Political Science (POL) Spanish (SPA), Business (BUS), Religion (REL), Youth and Family Ministries (YFM), Marketing (MKT), Environmental Studies (ENV) or Women’s Studies (WST).

Prerequisites: SPA 212 or equivalent, internship application, and Spanish reference forms for internships in all disciplines except for business. Please note that there is a separate application form for Business and Marketing students and that although it is preferred, they do not need to have as advanced levels of Spanish as students in other disciplines.

Course Description

The internship seminar is a rigorous academic course for students that are highly-self motivated. It involves not only a minimum of 120 hours of work experience and/or participant observation in an organization in Mexico but also participation in a seminar that explores cultural issues, organizational analysis and personal and professional development through class discussions and written and oral assignments. Through your work and participation in field work orientation and seminar sessions, you will have an opportunity to improve your Spanish language skills, learn about key issues in intercultural communication, develop skills in organizational analysis, articulate your personal and professional goals and critically reflect upon the service you are giving to the organization

NOTE: Students who want to register for this course must complete and submit an internship application in which they list their primary learning objectives for the internship, along with their resume and Spanish Reference form, by June 1 for the fall semester and by December 1 for the spring semester. See web.augsburg.edu/global/spa/spa-checklist.html for the internship application. The Spanish Reference Form should be completed by a Spanish professor indicating that their Spanish is strong enough to successfully complete the internship, as well as a brief phone interview in Spanish with a CGE Mexico staff person. Requests for internships will not be processed unless all of the forms are submitted.

The internship seminar is a rigorous academic course and should be treated as such. If you do not have strong Spanish language skills and are not highly self-motivated, you are encouraged to register for a second Spanish course instead of an internship. If you register for the internship seminar, you must be willing to travel to your internship sites and to work evenings and weekends, as necessary.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you will:

Gain hands-on work experience by contributing approximately 100-120 hours of service to a local organization/population that has expressed a need or desire for assistance.
Describe the role and function of the agency in resolving local problems or meeting local needs.
Increase your knowledge of Spanish vocabulary.
Improve your written and oral Spanish skills.
Apply at least one concepts/theory/idea from your major or minor to the internship setting.
Apply at least two professional work skills, such as writing, speaking, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, computer technology, intercultural communication, etc.) to the internship site
Complete a final project of interest related to the internship.
Accomplish at least one personal learning goal.
Assess your own contributions to the agency being served

Course Requirements

Course Participation and On Site Performance: (10%) Participation includes completion of a minimum 100 hours of service and active involvement at the site and in the internship seminar. Active involvement includes supervisory sessions with the on-site supervisor and professor, a final evaluation of the site, and completion of the assigned readings. Students will also be evaluated by their site supervisor at the end of the semester based on his/her presence at the site, the activities accomplished, interaction with clients/students, other staff and overall performance.

Internship Portfolio (45%): The portfolio is a collection of all of the intern’s work, including all documents that demonstrate the learner’s efforts, progress, and achievements in relation to the course objectives and the students’ own learning goals, as indicated by the learning agreement.

Analysis/Reflection Paper: (15%) All students will be expected to write a short reflection paper/analysis paper of a “critical incident” that occurred at the internship site.

Independent Project for Host Agency (15%): Each student must complete a special project that will be of on-going service to the host agency. The specific project should be determined together with the site supervisor and be designed to meet the needs of the agency. Examples of past projects include the following: a manual for future volunteers or interns; a mural completed together with members of the community; an article or series of articles in Spanish published in La Jornada newspaper; business report recommending strategies for improving a company’s marketing, and didactic materials for future use by the organization, translations into Spanish etc.

Internship Final Analysis Paper (15%): All students must write a 5-6 page paper synthesizing what they have learned from the internship. They will be expected to reflect upon the relationship of the internship to their major &/or minor, identify professional and personal skills they developed, as well as professional terminology that they learned. Finally, they will discuss connections they made between the internship experience and the broader issues explored in the semester program.

Internships are available in the following areas:

Arts (Visual Arts, Dance and Theatre)

Students use their creativity and artistic gifts at a local school, community organization or business. Theatre majors have used their talents on the stage to transform a high school English class into an interactive class. Another student majoring in art painted postcards for a human rights organization and were later sold during a fundraiser.

Business & Marketing

Students can intern with a local, national or multinational company where they will have direct interaction with the daily operations of the organization. Placements include tourism, marketing and advertising, microfinance, distribution, import/export, and other business related fields. Since Cuernavaca is home to many international manufacturing and production plants such as Nissan, Ponds, Bridgestone/Firestone as well as small companies such as Enterprising Solutions Global Consulting, ICSA Associates and Acierto Global Publicity Firm, you can choose the area that best fits your needs. Past students have researched clients at a local microfinance company in order to better frame products to current and future clients; other interns researched NAFTA business regulations for an international company.

Community Development and Organizing

Students learn first-hand while working on community issues such as the preservation of indigenous culture and practices, human rights in Mexico, environmental conservation, AIDS education, gender and sexuality and local land and community struggles. A past student learned about a village’s concept of community organizing while working on their yearly festival. Another student participated in local environmental actions (cultural events, protests, email campaigns) to prevent a trash dump from being built in Cuernavaca.

Education

Students assist in a variety of educational settings teaching or tutoring English, Math, History, Religion. Work with at-risk children through workshops and one-on-one interactions with children in orphanages or group homes.

Health Care

Internships are available in the health field in areas such as alternative medicine, nursing, midwifery, elder or child care, social work or chaplaincy. Past interns have worked at a women’s health clinic conducting workshops, teaching yoga and participating with the daily operations of the clinic. Others have worked in orphanages and adolescent group homes, homes for elderly adults, large hospitals and small natural medicine clinics.

Public Policy & Advocacy

Students have the opportunity to collaborate with Mexican organizations around issues of human rights, indigenous issues, environment, AIDS and health education, sexual and reproductive rights, gender and sexuality, elderly and children. Participate in local and national projects, on-going research and local community events. Students have participated in AIDS education campaigns, conducted interviews with past immigrants to the US and Canada, experimented with cost-effective grey-water filters and documented human rights violations with an independent human rights commission.

Social Work & Social Services

Students work directly with clients in a group home, an orphanage or elderly center or accompany a social worker at a local service agency. Students have created and implemented activities with elderly adults as well as worked one-on-one with at risk teenagers. Others have staffed booths and distributed educational materials at local conferences.

Youth and Family Ministries

Students are able to put ministry into practice while interning at a local church, faith-based organization or religious school. Some students have taught classes in ethics and religion at a local Catholic high school, while others have translated English letters from Christian sponsors in the US for a local women’s center in Cuernavaca. One student participated in a Catholic women’s group which offers classes on nutrition and sewing.